He drives for home after another
long day and night at the office.
He needs his wife’s reassuring touch
and his children’s laughter and warm hugs.
“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!”
His stomach twists and turns
and splashes across his shoes.
His dream house now a steaming, smoking
mountain of memories and debris.
“Step back sir. Step back!”
He searches for a uniform.
“My kids?”
The cop shakes his head and turns away.
He seeks a second uniform.
“My wife?”
The firefighter shakes his head and turns away.
Yesterday he needed pennant race
poker champions, and preseason football.
The Television clicker lit
but the channels would not change.
“We’ll play after the game, son!”
Another uniform steps toward him
radiating experience and authority.
The Chief thrusts a stinking melted disk
into the father’s trembling hands.
“No batteries!”
WRP 2008
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